seyed jalal rajaei

The Islam world in the third to sixth centuries (AH) has enjoyed a period of scientific and civilized prosperity. One of the important issues in the field of science education in the Middle Ages of Iran is paying attention to the scientific travels of the scientists. In this research, the scientific travels of a number of Balkhi scholars in the third to sixth centuries (AH) to study or complete their scientific research have been studied. The present article uses a descriptive-analytical method to determine to what lands they have traveled the most from Balkh and what was the reason for choosing these cities? It is also very important to see what scientists have been looking for in traveling to these cities. The lands of Iraq (Baghdad and Basra) and Syria (Sham and Aleppo) and the Hejaz and Neishabour have attracted the most scientific attention. The existence of scientific centers such as comprehensive mosques and Nizamiyyahs and invaluable libraries in these lands have been the most important factors in attracting scientists.

Abstract The ruling era of Piruz, the Sassanid king, must be considered one of the most challenging historical periods. The reasons of political-economic tensions could be traced in drought, successive and long wars, the capture of Iran from two different directions, and, ultimately, the tribute paid by Iranians to Hephthalites. Generally speaking, the coins belonging to Piruz ruling era were minted in four different forms throughout four different periods of time in various places; therefore, the elemental analysis of the metal used in these coins provides us with valuable information about the economic-political conditions, the type of mines, and the minting process of the coins. Hence, to conduct an elemental analysis of these coins, the non-destructive PIXE test was employed. The data of the present study is extracted from 41 non-repetitive coins out of 183 coins belonging to Piruzgat Treasure discovered in Tis, Chabahar, in 1380. However, unlike the supposition that the coins alloy must have been low due to the political tensions of that era, PIXE proved that the alloy has always been above 96 percent on the average. The amount of gold in these coins has always been at an average of one percent. Since this value ranged from 0.2 to 1.5 percent, the use of Cerussite mines in that period is proved which is also confirmed by the presence of lead in some coins. Only one type of coin (120,GOM) had a low amount of gold (0.15 percent) which could be the sign of using Galena mines in the 4th period of the ruling era. But the low amount of copper could signify a hurry in minting and inadequecy of silver extraction as a result of not using copper in these coins, existence of lead, and elemental variety especilly in the second and third periods. Keywords: PIXE; Numismatics; Piruz, the Sassanid King; Piruzgat; Sassanian.